


Rainstorms and Road Signs

by dragonofeternal



Series: Runaways [2]
Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7873114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonofeternal/pseuds/dragonofeternal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A broken A/C unit leads the boys to take the scenic route.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rainstorms and Road Signs

The road shimmers, a heatwave mirage on the horizon where the blue of the sky bleeds into the road so there is no end. The road becomes the infinite sky and the fluffy white clouds above, because heat has turned the asphalt into a mirror. If this were a fairy tale, their car would just drive up to that patch and then on into the sky above, and they would be free of all the things that lay behind them.

The air in the car is hot and wet, like trying to breathe underwater in the tropics. Judal hangs his head from the window like a dog, and Hakuryuu's shirt sits unbuttoned all the way down to his chest, sleeves rolled back as far as they'll go. The A/C broke about a half a day ago, and the cost of repairing it is sounding less and less heavy the longer they spend in it.

"Least there's no traffic," Judal says, pulling his head back into the car. 

"Yes, but there will be." Hakuryuu wipes his brow with the back of his arm. "At some point. There's always traffic."

Judal shrugs and turns to watch the road pass by. Save for his occasionally allowable roadside attractions, they've stuck largely to major highways and thoroughfares, and the endless stretch of road is starting to drive him mad. He wonders if Hakuryuu feels the same. Up on the mountains, dark storm clouds are rolling in, but it doesn't look like they'll reach the humid, oppressively hot highway.

"We should drive up there," Judal says, pointing. "Bet between the mountains and the rain it'll be a hell of a lot cooler." 

Hakuryuu opens his mouth to object, but a single glance at the impenetrable blackness of the clouds over the mountain changes his mind. Judal sees many things pass through his eyes in that instant- fear, relief, acceptance- and they all add up to listening to Judal's idea. They turn off into a small town and, after a brief stop for gas, turn onto an old piece of the highway system that leads up into the mountains.

* * *

The country is vast, but it's not until you get of the main highways and fill in the blanks between those roads that you realize just _how_ vast it really is. Inspired by the World War II efficiency of the German autobahn and fueled by cold war paranoia, the US's Interstate Highway System, established in the mid fifties, was largely made to get armed vehicles across the country in expedient manner in case of an armed invasion. It's got long, wide stretches of road: perfect for efficiency, not always the best for exciting sights.

Route 30 is older than that- a piece of the United States Numbered Highway system commissioned thirty years earlier than the interstates that is itself largely the reborn from the old Lincoln Highway, one of the first to be built in America. These numbered highways, and the Lincoln Highway that 30 was born from, were built with a different purpose in mind: to connect as many towns and people as possible. They're from an older time, many only one lane wide on either side, and tend to run straight through the main thoroughfares of the cities and towns they pass through. This means winding paths, occasionally slow stretches, and, most importantly, something other than the endless tan-grey of the interstate to look at.

* * *

"Oh, shit, Hakuryuu! Hakuryuu, I just remembered," Judal says, flapping his hand and staring at a crumpled brochure. "Past that last rest stop, before we turned off, there was a billboard for a gravity hill!"

Hakuryuu laughs and rolls his eyes. "Oh, I see what this is really about." He punches Judal in the shoulder without looking away from the road, and out of the corner of his eye he sees Judal recoil with comic overreaction, clutching at his arm. "You just wanted to trick me to another one of your hokey roadside attractions. Is a crazy codger in a tin hat going to try to sell me a poorly taxidermied rabbit paw at this one too?" 

"I sure hope so!" Judal cackles, kicking his feet up on the dash board. "I mean they shelled out for a billboard and tourism brochures, so it must be a pretty impressively commercialized one."

"Joy." 

Now it's Judal's turn to punch Hakuryuu. "Come on, admit it, you're starting to dig this crap as much as I do!" He glances at the brochure. "Apparently when we hit 'Schellsburg' we're gonna turn up onto Route 96 and then after that take 'the only traffic light in New Paris.' Hah, look at that Hakuryuu! We're gonna get to see the City of Lights!"

"Is it really the City of Lights if there's only one?" Hakuryuu teases.

* * *

Route 30 is winding enough on its own, but turn off that and you become swallowed by the forest, following roads that have no business being considered more than a one-way, where trucks like monsters stampeding force anything smaller to pull off the road and let them pass. And the roads themselves feel like a spell, winding paths and rolling mountains that disorient and lead the unwary through their divine dance. Away from cities. Away from eyes. Into lands meant not for cars or humans or things that do not prowl with ancient paws.

Of course, the occasional house says otherwise.

Yet that sense remains, that sense of trespass, as though humans are unwelcome. It certainly lends legitimacy to the idea that they're about to go somewhere where the rules of the real world, the laws of gravity and sense, do not apply.

They turn right onto Gravity Hill Road, go up and down steep hills on sharp curves. Along the roadside, wildflowers sway in the breeze of the humid summer's day, and real estate signs proudly proclaim that this slice of wilderness, this hilly field nestled between trees, could be yours if you just call the number below.

There's no gift shop this time. And no crazy codger either. Hakuryuu slams on the brakes to avoid driving straight past the white spray paint that reads GH START. He glances at Judal, a dubious eyebrow raised, and Judal shrugs in response. 

"Maybe the rest is further along?" he offers to Hakuryuu's look.

Hakuryuu sighs and puts the car in neutral. Slowly, veeeerry slowly, the car begins to creep forward. Judal watches the flowers pass. 

"You know, you'd think they'd put a gift shop right there," he says, pointing at the hill to their left. "The land's for sale! All that billboard advertising and they can't even spring for a gift shop?"

Hakuryuu groans. "The last one was faster than this." 

Their car stops a few feet ahead, and they both stare at each other for a long time.

"Well that fucking sucked!" Judal proclaims, banging his fist on the dashboard. "Come on, there's supposed to be a second one further along! Maybe it's better."

They drive along a little farther to a second spray-painted line, but Judal just sighs. "No gift shop here either? Come ooon, you can even tell this one's going downhill!" 

Hakuryuu finds himself just laughing and shaking his head. "All the places, all the cheesy, fakey, places we've been, and _this_ is what you get bugged by?"

"Well I mean look at it!" Judal throws his hand aggressively at the road before them. "All that advertising? For this? Like come _on_ they aren't even trying!" He crosses his arms and huffs into his seat, looking very much the part of a sulking child. "It's the principle of the matter, Hakuryuu. It's about the art. The soul. The passion!" 

"The soul?" Hakuryuu says as they start driving again. 

"Yeah." Judal looks out the window. "Any fucker can put up signs and lie to people. But when it's a roadside attraction, it's got the potential to be so much more. The road, it's…." Judal takes in a deep breath that makes Hakuryuu look over at him. But if there's an emotion on his face, he can't see it; Judal's face is turned. "The road is an inbetween space. And anyone with half a brain about magic knows that's powerful. Bridges, crossroads, dawn and dusk- anywhere or anywhen or anything that's between has a special property and potency that lends anything done then or there something special. Mix that with the passion and belief of a million fuckin' people, all carrying their own whatever in them…" Judal shakes his head and laughs. "It's something special. It's somethin' really special. Like our furry friend in the trunk." 

Hakuryuu's lips are a tight, drawn line, uncertain what shape or words to make to comfort Judal. So they make none. The two drive in silence until they meet back up with 30. There, in the town of Shawnee, Hakuryuu treats Judal to the best soft serve either of them have ever tasted, and it sweetens the experience a little for their memories.

* * *

The mountains and winding paths eventually drop them into a town that's more or less a glorified rest stop: packed gas stations and large parking lots, cheap motels and cheaper restaurants. Compared to the mountains and their tiny towns the pair's passed through on Route 30, it's a metropolis. Judal gets fried mac-n-cheese bites from a Sheetz while Hakuryuu fuels up to continue their long drive through the mountains, which rise before them like green pyramids against a navy-black sky of stormclouds. 

Judal leans across the hood of the car, attempting and failing to eat his fried treats in a seductive manner. There's little at all to be found sexy about the crumbs on his face or the ungodly om-nom-nom he devours them with, but Hakuryuu still finds himself smiling a little anyway. The hood of the car is hot though; too hot for Judal to remain across it for long, and he stands back up with an awkward stretch.

"You wanna try to crash here for the night, or?" Judal lets the question linger without a second half to his or- let Hakuryuu come up with whatever other plan goes in the blank.

Hakuryuu shakes his head as he screws the gas cap back into place. "No… No, I still want to get a little further. Staying populous places like this never seems safe." 

Judal nods, devouring another mac-n-cheese bite. The memory of Hakuryuu's panicked face hovering over his own face, of Hakuryuu yanking him half-asleep from bed and dragging him into the car on the absolute insistence that their serviceably nice accomodations were all an Al Tharman setup and that any moment, _any moment,_ the trap would spring, still hangs fresh in Judal's mind. The idea of having to leave another real bed didn't sound appealing in the slightest. "That's cool. Let's just keep following 30 then. Sure to find something along the way." 

"That was my thought." Hakuryuu opens the door to the car and climbs in. "I've been enjoying the scenic route anyway. Even if that was the worst roadside attraction we've been to yet." 

Judal grunts in reply as he buckles in. "I feel so betrayed, Hakuryuu, you don't even know."

"Aaah, and here I thought it was about the pure joy of finding magic the way the 'normies' find it."

Hakuryuu guides the car out of the Sheetz and left through the light, back onto the road. They wait at the longest traffic light in existence, Judal coming up with creative swears as he watches opposing directions of traffic each get two full turns to go before they finally get a brief window where they are able to move. Hakuryuu speeds through the yellow to keep from getting caught at the light again. A mammoth rest plaza with the word GATEWAY above it passes on the left, a final bit of civilization to bid them farewell as they pass under the overpass and back up into the mountains.

* * *

The world turns a weird green-black as clouds completely eclipse the late afternoon sun and dye its light a sickly hue. At first, it's only a few plunks on the windshield, each heavy and large, but then the storm opens up, and the world is swallowed by a wave of water. Hakuryuu swears, swatting the windshield wipers to their maximum speed, but it does little to improve visibility. All ahead is the shifting mass of the storm, with the occasional, indistinct flash and immediate boom of thunder not far off. 

"I can't see shit up ahead," Judal says, leaning forward and squinting through the windshield. 

"Me either," Hakuryuu says. "And lean back. You're making it worse." 

Judal obliges, for once not trying to make things more difficult than they already are. A lone semi appears from the gloom, its girth roaring up at a pace that rattles their car. They both both tense with a hiss of air, and the tractor-trailer flies by in a flash of water and motion. The wipers throw the wave of water back at the truck like the half-hearted splashing of a child against a tsunami. 

"Asshole," Judal mutters when they're not full of horrifying thought of those tall lights barrelling over their car and smashing them both to a bloody smear on the back windshield. "Hope he flies off the side of the mountain." 

"Maybe he will," Hakuryuu mutters back, near certain that it will. He knows with dread finality that once Judal says something like that, either the rain or his own lingering malice will make it so. 

"Shiiit," Judal says, louder this time, to break their shaky quiet. "We need to pull over. We're gonna fucking die in this mess." 

"There's no shoulder." Hakuryuu doesn't gesture to punctuate the statement. His eyes stay fixed on the road. One false move and…. Ugh. The trees open up on the far side, and he can vaguely see cliffside in his periphery. The view would probably be gorgeous if the tires on his ancient, second hand car didn't keep threatening to hydroplane with every curve. Even Judal, who can't drive for shit and fears nothing, is gripping the armrest on the door with white knuckles. 

They're silent as they drive, with only the roar and crack of the storm to fill the time.

Hakuryuu resists the urge to hiss with fear as they slide into the other lane going around a curve. Thank something for the lack of oncoming traffic. Not God, to be sure but… Oh, who the fuck ever it is be praised, around that curve of narrowly avoided disaster flickers a VACANCY sign.

* * *

Judal and Hakuryuu rush from the car to the tiny motel's leasing office. It's only a couple feet, but they're still soaked to the bone when they throw themselves through the door. Inside it's dark, almost as dark as outside, and a flash of lightning outside takes an eerie blue-white freezeframe of the empty front desk and the deer trophies above it. Judal shakes like a dog, magically flinging the water from his body and all over the room. His hair poofs back to it's full splendor, and he takes an appraising look at the lobby. 

"Spooky." He says finally. "And ugly."

"Don't be rude," Hakuryuu says as he approaches the counter. The glass eyes of the deer seem to watch him as he rings the bell for service. 

"You know, this is some straight-up _Psycho_ shit." Judal boops a poorly taxidermied wolf on the nose. "Front desk dude's gonna come up and be all Norman Hitchcock or whatever."

"Stop it Judal." Hakuryuu huffs through his wet bangs. "And the character was Norman _Bates._ Hitchcock was the director."

"Whatever." Judal just snickers, slowly coming up behind Hakuryuu. "It's still spooky," he whispers into Hakuryuu's ear, trailing his fingers down Hakuryuu's arm. Shuddering goosebumps rise in the wake of Judal's fingers on his wet skin. "I mean you know it right? A boy's best friend is his mother."

"Stop it!" Hakuryuu swats Judal, yanking away. Another peal of thunder rippled across the sky, casting them both in sharp light and dark. The lobby remains silent. No sign of a desk agent. Like an abandoned house. Like a tomb. Hakuryuu throws a glance at the bell, contemplates pushing it again, but his fingers lock under the watchful eyes of the deer. A boy's best friend is his mother. 

"This place sucks," Judal announces, and he strides over and grabs Hakuryuu by the arm. "Fucker probably fell asleep in the back office. No shower scene for you, you Hitchcock fuck!" Judal throws the last bit at the far wall and drags Hakuryuu out of the motel.

The road is more hospitable than the imagined horrors of the motel, and it's only a few more treacherous curves to find the next one. The neon sign of the Valley View Inn blares brightly through the driving rain, and the yellow A-frame of its leasing office is far more welcoming than the dim, taxidermied horror show of the nameless motel before it. The receptionist looks bored, and almost annoyed at their presence, dripping onto the short, dense carpet. His tired, annoyed demeanor and acne pitted face remind Hakuryuu of a cousin he never really spoke with, but it's better than some imagined killer in a dead woman's dress. They take their keys- real ones, dingy brass on a keyring with a wooden ID tag- and drive across the parking lot to their room. It's… homey, if a bit bland. Painting of a sailboat on a calm sea on the far wall, neutral color wallpaper and sort of yellowed lighting. No taxidermy though, so that's a step up. 

Hakuryuu lets out a breath he hadn't thought he was holding and begins to peel off his dripping clothes. "I need a shower," he says. "A long one. I'm freezing and exhausted."

Judal laughs. "Better than sweating to death?"

Hakuryuu nods absently on his way to the bathroom. "Definitely, definitely."

Judal trails after Hakuryuu, sits in the doorless doorway to the bathroom. The sound of the pounding shower blends with the sound of the storm outside, and Judal shuts his eyes, letting it all wash him clean. It's all sound, soothing and rushing. "I'm sorry," he says softly. "For being a dick at the last place."

Hakuryuu sticks his head out of the shower. "Do you need a shower too? The hot water doesn't feel like it'll last very long."

Judal nods, pulling off his shirt and crawling towards the tub to join Hakuryuu.

* * *

The Valley View Inn surprises by being true to its name. Sitting on the concrete curb and gazing out across the parking lot, Hakuryuu takes in a gorgeous view of the fog rolling through the cliffs and valleys and hills below. If there are towns or roads, they're all hidden beneath the cloak of trees that covers the Allegheny Mountains. The rain left everything drenched, and the humidity and heat have for the time broken for it. Hakuryuu's butt is wet from the concrete, but he doesn't mind too much. This moment, this perfect calm of birdsong and mist and soft light, is worth it. 

The door behind him opens with a creak, and Judal joins him with a yawn. 

"Trouble sleeping again?" Judal asks, mush-mouthed with tired. 

Hakuryuu shakes his head. "Just an early riser, Judal." 

"Mm," Judal grunts, obviously half asleep. He and mornings have never gotten along. Hakuryuu is pretty sure Judal would knife the concept of morning in the ribs given half a chance. Hakuryuu wraps an arm around him, letting Judal use him as a pillow to escape wakefulness. It's what good friends do. 

"Damn if the early morning light isn't beautiful, though," Judal says, flinging a hand at the scene before them. "Pisses me the fuck off. Like, fuck you for existing when I'm asleep, you know?" He laughs. "My ass is getting wet."

"Join the club." 

"Oh, we're a club now?" 

"Apparently."

Judal mulls that over for a bit. "Well, how about we blow this popsicle stand and be the Breakfast Club so we can eat." 

"You know that's about being in detention, not stuffing your face on greasy diner food, right Judal?" Hakuryuu stands and offers Judal his hand up. "And what is it with you and movies these last few days?" 

Judal grips his hand tight. "The good hotel you made us leave had cable." 

"Aaaah." Hakuryuu smiles and nods, pulling Judal to his feet. "Well, how about this. We drive until we hit the next town, grab some diner food, and then-" he pulls a brochure from within his pajama shirt. "We go visit an elephant museum?"

Judal's eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning as he snatches the brochure from Hakuryuu's hand. "Holy- Look at this! Hah! Now this is the kind of thing I'm talking about Hakuryuu, this, this is passion. Look at that fuckin- the mannequin head with elephants exploding out, oh we gotta go…"

**Author's Note:**

> While the first part of Runaways was more broad in its scope, this installment is inspired by specific stretches along Route 30 that I visited with my wife earlier this month on a trip to a funeral. The underwhelming Gravity Hill is indeed underwhelming, but if you like a good story and don't mind the detour, I'd say it's pretty fun. The Elephant Museum is also real, and it's [freaking amazing](https://www.mistereds.com/) in that special way that only roadside kitsch can be. The hotels are also inspired by previous roadtrips, though the spooky _Psycho_ motel was in Breezewood (and is probably fine when you're not rolling in at 2am in heavy fog) and I've never actually stayed at the one with the yellow A-frame. I just thought it looked cute when I drove past. 
> 
> As for my other projects, I assure you, new chapters are on the way. Wither, Flourish, and Feast first, probably, with Peach Blossom Spring not long after. But who knows? Could end up being the other way around.


End file.
